Document Browser Improvements

[Jethro]

I love Affinity on the iPad. The toolset, capabilities, and support is incredible. I would love to see the document browser improved though - I think it’s the main part that slows down my workflow, or causes confusion.

The way Affinity stores it’s files feels unintuitive to me, I think it’s because it tries to be too smart.

These are the primary issues I’ve identified that affect my workflow

1. I forget where a file is saved - mainly because of the Import vs Open from cloud options.

2. I forget whether a file is saved (linked with no1 - where it saves to upon hitting save because files do not auto-save upon returning to the document browser)

3. I have to open a file to export

4. I cannot bulk select, import, or delete files. 

 

To solve some of these, I’ve created the mockups below. Without too change to the core functionality of the browser, I think the best way to solve the issues above would be to reveal a little more meta data to the user through an info panel. No too obtrusive, and revealed upon pressing an ‘i’ button.

The key meta data that helps solve no1 & no2: an icon & path showing where the file will save to & whether the file has been saved through pressing the Save button. If a file is new and hasn’t been saved yet, then Last Saved and Saves To can be NA. Being able to see these at a glance enables me to see what I can and cannot safely close, and locate from the files app.

A little extra detail like file size helps prepare me for long load / save times.

 

I know no one asks procreate for this kind of metadata, but then again procreate offers a different kind of experience by making all files save inside the app. I know where everything is. With Affinity, I never quite know whether changes are saved, and where my files are (because I forgot).

 

Also multi select for bulk save, import, and close would just be ace!

 

Open to thoughts and suggestions on how this affects your workflow!!